Death is so startled by the beauty of the young Italian woman Grazia that he effectively goes on strike, preventing all deaths worldwide for the weekend. At the same time he wants to understand why people fear him so much and what it feels like to be alive.
Disguised as Prince Sirki from Minsk, he joins a house party at the Villa Felicita outside Venice, intriguing the ladies with devilish charm, antagonizing the jealous men and singing mesmerizing duets with Grazia.

Pressklipp:
The production doesn’t have a lot of room to breathe on the smallish Laura Pels stage, and Mr. Hughes (regissören) mostly just shuffles one character after another to center stage for the big numbers, resulting in a stasis that’s little enlivened by the labored use of two wrought-iron spiral staircases framing Derek McLane’s set.Death Takes a Holiday lurches into winky comedy at times, as when Prince Sirki’s identity is revealed to all. “Death?” the sluttish housemaid gasps when she is apprised of the truth. “Oh my God, and I was hoping to sleep with him!”
But for the most part, this pleasant but bland new musical gives off the musty whiff of antique melodrama. Deathless it ain’t.– Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

… But the long-gestating tuner, derived from an Americanization of a mystical Italian play from the post-WWI era, feels like a worn elastic band that has lost its snap. The show is worthy and far from deathlike, but it’s often too lethargic by half.
…
But its prospects as a crowdpleaser look rather wan. Indeed, “Death Takes a Holiday” seems an unlikely candidate for an extended run, a Broadway transfer, or much of an afterlife.– Steven Suskin, Variety

The source material … is a delicate mood piece with little action. How would this trio of smart writers address that problem? Sadly, they haven’t. With the ubiquitous Doug Hughes seeming out of his element directing a musical, this Death is no holiday.– Erik Haagensen, Backstage